'I better not die hungry'

As much as the mercurial rise of 19-year-old boxer Vikas Krishan leaves you in awe, his case of winning a bronze at the Worlds in a category nine kilos above his usual weight class leaves you baffled. Debjeet Kundu reports.

As much as the mercurial rise of 19-year-old boxer Vikas Krishan leaves you in awe, his case of winning a bronze at the Worlds in a category nine kilos above his usual weight class leaves you baffled.

The Bhiwani lad, who has won all his titles, and will be fighting in the London Olympics, in the lightweight category (60kg), fought in the 69kg category in Azerbaijan last month. At a time when everyone's looking to keep down a couple of kilos, what was this youngster thinking? "There's a saying in boxing - 'be ready to die', because whether you win or lose, you'll be beaten," says Yadav. "Well, I didn't want to die hungry."

Dinnertime worryLack of concentration, a bad gust of wind, or even the pressure of carrying a billion hopes --- none will be a worry for ace shooter Abhinav Bindra when he lands in London next year for the Olympics. "Rem-ember taking your sweaters to the dining hall," is the first word of caution from India's first individual Olympic gold-medallist to his team-mates.

In town for the Samsung Olympic Ratna programme, it seems he's not the only one who's worried about dinnertime. While giving your best to one discipline is quite a task in Olympics, shooter Gagan Narang will be gunning for three medals. Does he ever wish there were a few more hours in the day?

"Good that I have the same number of hours as anyone else. This way I'll hardly have time to do anything else," says the "slightly overweight" Narang. "Also, it'll help keep me away from the dining hall." The rifle shooter doesn't want to be the first to put on extra pounds courtesy the fish and chips and steak available near the Thames Getaway next July!